>>281525126
Shueisha still makes money from Dragon Ball AND they sabotage it anyway. BOTH can be true at the same time. They're milking it behind the scenes while burying it in public to protect newer IPs which is corporate strategy 101.
Companies routinely bury their biggest cash cows if they:
>Threaten to eclipse their current marketing narrative
Or
>Create unfair comparisons with newer, less-proven products
Or
>Expose how new gen hype is artificial
Apple downplayed older iPhones. Even when the older models sold the most, they would kill off or undermarket them to push their new one, because the old model makes the new one look worse. Disney suppresses older Star Wars lore even though old EU stuff was still very profitable and nuked it to make way for new trilogy narratives.
Dragon Ball still prints money quietly, but it also...
>Makes One Piece look mid by comparison
>Dunks on Demon Slayer's "highest avg sales" lie
>Destroys the Japanese recency bias myth that newer = better
So what do they do?
,>Sell DB merch
>License DB for games and collabs
>Never update manga sales
>Never spotlight Toriyama properly
>Never promote milestones
>Undervalue it in press while blasting Demon Slayer and One Piece in neon lights
Shueisha are using Dragon Ball's legacy to fund their brand, but also hide the that fact to protect their fragile new gen narrative. It's not about what makes the most money, it's about controlling the spotlight and if Goku's numbers got updated tomorrow, EVERY single "record" they've hyped would crumble instantly.
